Mother of Thomas Valva demands more money to settle lawsuit against Suffolk County in death of her 8-year-old son in 2020, lawyer says

The mother of Thomas Valva has increased her settlement demand as talks resumed this week in the federal lawsuit alleging county and school officials ignored years of warnings of abuse before the 8-year-old boy died of hypothermia after being forced by his father and his fiancee to sleep in their unheated Center Moriches garage in January 2020, an attorney said during a conference Wednesday.

The hearing was held as a January discovery deadline looms with no parties having given a deposition in the case Justyna Zubko-Valva filed against Suffolk County, several of its Child Protective Services employees, East Moriches school officials, several attorneys tasked with protecting Thomas Valva and his two brothers, and father Michael Valva and fiancee Angela Pollina.

“This case has to start moving forward,” Magistrate Judge Arlene Lindsay told both sides during the conference call.

Attorney Jonathan Bruno, of Manhattan, speaking on behalf of all defendants, outlined for the judge a number of potential obstacles toward resolving the case, including the escalating settlement figure and a large number of deponents requested by Zubko-Valva, of Valley Stream.

“There has been some recent settlement discussion that actually only came about … on Monday, where they made a new demand, which was much higher than what was demanded at [prior] mediation,” said Bruno, who represents the Suffolk County Legal Aid Society and a former attorney for the children.

Bruno said that while it is important for the settlement discussions to continue, both sides need to move ahead with scheduling depositions, which would include testimony from Zubko-Valva, her two surviving children, Michael Valva and Pollina. An attorney for the school district recently informed the judge that Zubko-Valva has been reluctant to make the boys, Anthony and Andrew Valva, available for depositions, while Assistant County Attorney Callan Tauster said the mother has requested 20 people to be deposed.

The settlement demand shared Monday by Zubko-Valva’s attorney, Thomas Bosworth, of Philadelphia, was not disclosed during Wednesday’s conference.

Zubko-Valva had previously rejected a $3 million settlement offer from Suffolk County after she learned it would cover all defendants in the case, according to a letter she filed with the court on her own behalf in November 2023, when she replaced her original attorneys in the case. At that time, she said she would be willing to settle the case for $30 million.

Lindsay told both sides Wednesday that she will not schedule a formal settlement conference until at least some of the depositions planned in the case had taken place. Both sides would also have to submit to the judge settlement positions with “real numbers” attached to them before a conference could be held, the judge said.

“If I see posturing in the letters …. I’m not going to waste my time having a settlement conference,” Lindsay said.

Wednesday's conference comes nearly five years after Zubko-Valva filed the $200 million claim. Zubko-Valva was going through a bitter divorce proceeding and custody battle with Michael Valva, who, along with Pollina, is serving a 25-years-to-life sentence for the murder of Thomas.

Two Suffolk juries found Thomas died when the couple forced him and Anthony to sleep in the unheated garage as temperatures outside fell to 19 degrees.

Prosecutors described the Valva and Pollina home on Bittersweet Lane as a “house of horrors.” There were no mattresses, no beds, no pillows or blankets in the garage where Thomas slept for the last time, according to the evidence presented in the 2022 and 2023 trials. That evidence, including text messages between the pair, depicted Pollina as the driving force behind the punishment, but jurors found Pollina and Valva "acted in concert" to cause Thomas' death.

In video from a home surveillance system Pollina controlled that was displayed during the trials, the boys shivered in freezing temperatures. Pollina often sent video clips of the boys in the garage to Valva via text message while he worked overnight shifts, complaining of the boys’ behavior and urging Valva to take action, trial evidence showed.

At times, Valva told Pollina he wanted his sons back in the house, but Pollina refused, telling Valva to move out if he disapproved of the arrangement. Valva felt he couldn't leave, his attorneys have said, because he was facing financial issues due to the pending divorce and custody fight.

Thomas and Anthony appeared starving during most of their time at East Moriches Elementary School, their schoolteachers testified, adding they also came to school with bruises, cuts and other injuries. The teachers and school officials called Child Protective Services many times, including a group effort to “flood” a CPS reporting line, but the boys remained living with Valva and Pollina, testimony at the trial showed.

A special grand jury empaneled by Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney released a report outlining changes to the CPS system in April. County officials have said some of those reforms have been achieved.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.